• Annual travel costs—If there is one expense that ends up costing thousands more than people plan for, this is it. Whether you’re driving your car halfway across your state or flying all the way across the country, these are real costs that can’t be ignored. To fill in this line properly on your worksheet, you need to pull out your calculator and figure out how much it will cost to move to college (whether across town or across the country). If someone is going to help in the move, you’ll also need to account for them traveling back and forth. Lastly, you’ll need to account for the holidays—will your student be coming home at Thanksgiving, Christmas, spring break, parents’ costs of attending a parents weekend, etc.? Add up all those costs and put them on the appropriate line.

• Leisure travel costs—If spring break in Florida, a semester in Italy, or regular road trips are part of your college dreams, then you’re going to need to account for these as well.

• Medical costs—When a student stays on his parents’ health insurance, there are not usually any surprise expenses. But students who drop off their parents’ plans for one reason or another can incur some hefty bills. In fact, many schools are now requiring students to either show proof of insurance or buy a policy offered by the school, which can easily run $500 to $1,000 per year.

• Campus and student activity fees—Many schools charge a student government or association fee, simply for being a student. This catch-all fee can include things such as intramural sports and on-campus social events. However, it often does not include things like sporting events, yearbooks, and other campus perks. If you’re going to want those things, you’ll need to budget for them separately. A phone call to your college’s activities office should get you the amount, but $50 to $100 per semester is a safe bet.

• Greek life or club expenses or dues—Fraternities and sororities are not quite as popular as they once were nationwide, but some schools’ social lives are still dominated by Greek life. Naturally, if an Animal House is part of your future, you can expect some vet bills along with it. Typical dues for a fraternity can run from $100 to $250 per semester, not including the parties and other activities. Of course, if you live in a frat or sorority house, you can pay $2,000 or more per semester, but this also replaces much of your other room and board costs.

• Technology—A lot has changed since my days at Pepperdine University nearly 15 years ago. Back then, everyone jockeyed for a slot in the one computer lab to be able to type and print their papers. Nowadays, laptops seem virtually mandatory at most schools. If you don’t already own one that will last you the duration of college, you can expect to spend $750 to $2,500 for a laptop and printer combo with all the right software, plus another $100 a year for things like printer cartridges and paper.

• Furnishings—Whether you’re moving into a dorm on the other side of the country or an apartment across town, it’s likely you’re going to need some new furnishings. Will you need to purchase a bed, bookshelves, a few lamps, or one of those mini-fridges? If you can’t think of anything, I’d recommend you at least stick $250 in here per year to cover miscellaneous costs.

• Clothes—If you or your student is planning on studying on the beach or enjoying the perks of living near the ski slopes, there is a good chance some new clothes will be in your future as well. While you probably have a much better handle on your expenses in this area, you should budget at least $500 if you’re going to experience a dramatic climate change.

• Lost income—This might seem like an odd expense to have to account for, but it can put you between a rock and a hard place in an instant. If a student who has been a financial contributor to your household is no longer working, this is money that may have to be made up for from other sources or cut out of the family budget. If it cannot be cut from the family budget, you need to include it in your College Cash Strategy Worksheet and make sure your funding plan makes up for this somehow.

• Until you understand what college is going to cost, figuring out how to pay for it is pointless.

• Developing a college cash strategy will help you figure out what college will really cost and what resources you’ll have to tackle your costs.

• Direct costs (tuition, room, board, and books) represent the biggest portion of your college costs and the amounts that you’ll have to fight the hardest to contain.

• Hidden or indirect costs can be substantial and can sneak up on you unless you identify and deal with them.